In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, David Tubbs <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
>> > The Defrag with DOS/Windows packs the data together, removing the >> > fragments that got separated to be a whole continuous area of data. >>This is correct. > >Or is it ? >Defrag as done by Windows only attempts to stitch FILES back >together, can still leave chunks of free space between data. No >attempt to keep directories together. > >The quickest and most efficient defrag is to XCOPY all to another >drive.volume - format - and copy all back again. Der ... der ... DOS strikes back ! Yes, I recall that trick with XCOPY ... because it destroys data before it writes back ... so the "X" was an appropriate prefix. >> > Internally I don't know how the QXL.WIN holds its directions to >> > information. Yet it will not be affected by defragmenting. >>It can be. If the QXL.WIN file is spread of lots and lots of diosc >>area, in multiple fragments, > >These days you will never know if QXL_WIN is in bits or where it is. >You could ensure a contiguous file if you copied them into a virgin >partition, you could create more than one, renaming them and keeping >them in hand for later use. > >Back in days of DOS and W311 Central point had some great tools for >seeing exactly where files were located and if fractured. > >As to whether or not QXL needs the treatment, less than likely, QDOS >lacks the engine of fragmentation - an MS OS. So many files a >silently extended, even in the root, and the whole system of temp >files and swap/page file. >But within QXL_WIN there comes a time when the space made available >by deletion is not large enough to accommodate the next file to be >saved there. Just do as Per suggested, WCOPY all to a new one, or a >contiguous one you have been smart enough to prepare beforehand. Yes, I guess a QXL.WIN does not get messed up with scattered files and spaces like a PC hard drive. Interestingly, though I have found with WIN95 and QPC2 that a QXL.WIN of 500Mb is slow to read ... and therefore better to stick to 150Mb. -- Malcolm Cadman _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
